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Armored caterpillars offer robot designers lessons in crossing slippery glass

Animals have long been one of the primary sources of inspiration for robotics researchers. This is because they rely on sophisticated biological mechanisms and locomotion strategies that could be artificially reproduced in robots to equip them with desired capabilities.

Caterpillars, the wormlike larvae that later develop into butterflies or moths, have also attracted the attention of many roboticists. Their elastic bodies and their ability to stick onto many types of surfaces allow them to move in complex natural environments and squeeze through narrow openings.

Caterpillars adapt their movements based on what they are crawling on, as they might not always adhere perfectly to each surface. Researchers at the University of Naples Federico II and the University of Palermo recently assessed how well caterpillars moved on wood, steel, slate and glass, observing how they coped with more challenging conditions.

The missing link between event cameras and robot vision

For decades, event cameras, which emulate the biological retina by continuously monitoring changes in light intensity, have promised to revolutionize how robots perceive the world by allowing them to react faster and operate more reliably than conventional cameras permit.

But interpreting event-camera data, which resembles a dizzying stream of points rather than a recognizable series of images, has traditionally required a patchwork of specialized algorithms, each built for a single task.

Now, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed Fast Feature Field, or F³, a general-purpose computational tool to efficiently transform the tens of millions of signals that event cameras produce each second into information that many different kinds of robots can use.

Stimulation modulates gene-linked cell assemblies in the human brain

Could deep brain stimulation change not only brain circuits, but also the genes that help those circuits communicate?

This may be an important next chapter in deep brain stimulation (DBS). Gene expression refers to how brain cells turn specific genes on or off to influence their function. Neuron al assemblies are groups of brain cells that fire together to process information.

Haley Moore and colleagues describe in a new paper in Nature how electrical stimulation of human brain tissue can strengthen coordinated neuronal activity and activate specific genetic programs involved in synaptic plasticity. The implications for the future of DBS are exciting.

Key points:

- Electrical stimulation strengthened neuronal assemblies, increasing coordinated firing and changing how neurons participated in functional brain networks.

- Stimulation produced cell-type-specific changes in gene expression, particularly in excitatory neurons, involving genes such as FOS, EGR1, BDNF and HOMER1 that are linked to neuronal activity and synaptic function.

- By combining electrical recordings and single-cell genomic analyses, the researchers connected stimulation-induced changes in brain activity to molecular pathways and identified related signatures following stimulation in living human brains.

Continue reading “Stimulation modulates gene-linked cell assemblies in the human brain” | >

Two Different Kinds of Gamma-Ray Bursts Erupted 4 Minutes Apart. Astronomers Have Never Seen This Before

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the most energetic cosmic events since the Big Bang, releasing the most energetic type of radiation, gamma rays – the stuff that turned unassuming Bruce Banner into the rampaging Hulk, but on an astronomical, potentially planet-sterilizing level.

GRBs are classed by transience, including short-duration ones that last less than two seconds and long-duration ones that last over two seconds (possibly much longer).

The former are thought to originate from the various collisions and resultant mergers of compact celestial objects, such as neutron stars and black holes.

Wireless electrocatalytic closed-loop system for drug-free management of diabesity

Lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes and associated obesity (diabesity) affect 2.5 billion people worldwide and impose nearly $3 trillion in annual health care costs. We developed an implantable, wirelessly powered electrocatalytic closed-loop health optimization (ECHO) device containing platinum-decorated gold nanoclusters embedded in graphite felt that enabled selective, electrically tunable oxidation of blood glucose to renally cleared gluconate. In type 2 diabetic mice, wireless, low-power activation (0.75 volts, 10 milliamperes) restored glucose homeostasis within 1 hour, shifted metabolism from glucose to lipid utilization, reduced body weight and triglycerides, and increased circulating free fatty acids and ketone bodies without detectable hypoglycemia or adverse physiological, inflammatory, or behavioral effects during 6 weeks of treatment.

Can Crypto Exchanges Defend Against Attackers Who Move Billions In Minutes?

Binance is investigating a possible cyberattack that may have stolen over $6 billion in cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains in about 15 to 20 minutes. This event highlights a long-standing structural weakness where many exchange platforms and digital wallets lack traditional multi-layered financial cybersecurity safeguards. Attackers like nation-state organizations, particularly from North Korea, can compromise infrastructure and move assets with exceptional efficiency. Defenders face an asymmetry issue because attackers only need to succeed once, while traditional banking controls like transaction freezing are often absent. Emerging technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence further complicate the defensive environment. Ultimately, achieving systemic resilience through stronger technical controls and cooperative governance is now strategically essential for the digital-asset ecosystem.